Improvement in disinfecting and ventilating burial vaults



, No. 111,358. PATENTED JAN. 31, 1871.

15. L'YFORD. DISINPEOTING AND VENTILATING BURIAL VAULT.

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dlniirh first BENJAMIN F. LYFORD, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Letters Patent No. 111,358, dated January 31, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN DlSlNFECTING AND VENT|LAT|NG BURIAL VAULTS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom. it may concern:

Beit known that I, DR. BENJAMIN F. LYFORD, of. the city and county ofSan Francisco and State of California, have invented a. new and ImprovedProccss oflVentilating and Disinfecting Gharnel Vaults; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full,

'clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which TheFigure is a sectional elevation. One of the, greatest nuisances to whichcharnci vaults are subject is the presence in them of the noxious gasesthat exhale from the decomposition of the corpses deposited therein, andthat escape from the caskets wherein such corpses are placed.

, These gases 'are extremely deleterious to human constit-utions, alwaysexerting a banefnl effect upon those who enter the vault,- and,sometirnes even rendering them insensible.

Nor is the injury from this cause confined to the limits of vaults,inasmuch as the gases escape out of the latter and poison: the.surrounding atmosphere,

producing much mischief especially where cemeteries are located withinthe .city limits, as they often are, so that the removal of thisnuisance is a positive hygienic necessity.

The object of .myu invent-ion'is to .rprovide a direct means ofcommunication between each cofiiu or casket stored in a charnel Vaultand the external air, in order that the gases that proceed. from corpsesmay be conducted outside the vault without being able in any manner todiffuse themselves through its interior; and also to'provide a means forthoroughly disinfecting such gases during theirpassage from the casketin order that when they issue into. the external atmosphere they may bedivested of every particle of noxiousmattcr. And I here state that Idonot intend to limit myself to the devices hereinafter describedfor-accomplishing this object, but-reserve the right to employ any andall such mechanisms as may constitute the mechanical equivalentsthereof.

Referring to the drawing, where is shown a vault of ordinaryconstruction, and divided into separate compartments for the receptionof caskets containing corpses-- a, are the caskets, each of which isfitted with a stop-cock, 1), opening into its interior.

0, are flexible pipes, that connect the cocks b with I cocks d, thatopen into a pipe, 0, placed in any convenient position with reference tothe caskets;'said pipe being, preferably, inclined upward from, itsmiddle toward each end, and being suitably connected at its extremetieswith vessels f, placed above it and held in position by any suflicientmeans; the

said pipe, preferably, passing through the bottom of each vessel f andextending upward a little way within it.

The office of the pipe 0 isto conduct into the vessels f the gasesdischarged into it from'the several caskets through the flexible tubes0.

The vessels f are furnished with diaphragms 9, consisting of perforatedplates or strong wire-gauze 'which extend across the vessels above themouths of the pipe c, and are, preferably, concave on their lower andconvex on their upper sides.

Upon and covering the whole upper surface of each diaphragm is spread apiece of felt or other strong and porous material, and above the felt islocated a'snitable quantity of some such chemical com,-

pound as will'servc t-o disinfect the gases poured into the vessel bythe pipe 0.

The perforations and pores of the diaphragms and felt allow the gases torise freely through them so as to percolate among the particles of thecompound, and the office of the felt is to prevent the chemicals fromfalling downward through the diaphragms'.

Horizontal disks i are supported or suspended above the mouths of thepipe 0 for the purpose of deflecting the gases-as they pour out from thepipe beneath the disks.

Each vessel, f, should have a space, It, above its quantum of chemicalsinto which the gases, now completely disinfected, may rise. But thegases in the spaces is though divested of all the noxious mattersderived from the corpses, are charged with chemical molecules, absorbedduring their percolation through the disinfecting material.

To. force the gases fromsuch chemical molecules they are conductedthrough pipes Z into the lower part of a vessel, in, wherein the pipes 1curve upward and meet at a common point of discharge, likewise furnishedwith a deflecting disk, Ki;

The vessel in is also provided with a perforated diaphragm and asuperincumbent felt, above which latter is located a suitable quantityof some such compound as 'may serve to free the gases, during theirascent through it, of the molecules received in the vessels f.

The vessel on is provided with a verticahdischargepipe, 12, ofsufficient height to create a strong draft from the caskets upward anddischarge into the external atmosphere entirely purified the gases'thatare generated in the corpses beneath.

The stop-cocks I) and d are provided, to enable fractures in the pipes cto be repaired without the discharge into the vault of gas, either fromthe caskets or pipe e.

The compound that is placed in the vessels f is carbolate of lime,andthat inthe vessel m is permanganate of potassium pulverized; to whichadd an equal hat I claim 41.8 new, and desire to secure by Let;

quantity of pulverized calcined bone. This is to preters Patent, isvvent (leliquescenee. The process herein described of ventilating andThese are only two out of many compounds that; disinfecting chzu'nclvaults.

may be used, and are recommended for their cliez p- Witnesses: B. 11.LYFORD, M. D.

ness and efficiency. SOLON U. KEMON,

Having thus described my invention, GEO. E. BROWN.

